Le Café de l'Usine -- 5 Passage Piver, Paris 11

Le Café de l’Usine opened in the western (downslope) part of Belleville last October. Although the light industry that used to populate the area has long moved out, there is still an industrial-style monotony in much of the area, broken only by the vegetation of a nearby children’s playground.

“Usine” is a French word for factory, so the name of the restaurant is the café of the factory. And in fact, it is located on the premises of a factory originally constructed in 1870, as is quite evident when one looks down the passage that leads to the restaurant:

All around, including the restaurant, one sees the high windows that characterized the workshops and studios of light industry, allowing maximum light for the workers:

A plaque, for those who read French, explains the history of the factory:

The factory began in 1870 when a barrel-maker named Théodore Grimmeisen moved from Alsace to the outskirts of Paris to ply his trade there. In 1900, his son re-oriented the factory around the developing material of rubber and, in particular, shoes. In 1930, the factory developed rubber boots molded in a single piece, and in 1936 invented tennis shoes of rubber and canvas. In 1984, the factory vacated the premises, but the Grimmeisen family continued to own the property, and in 1990 reopened it as Spring Court, a location for businesses centered around photography and media, that continues to this day. As I noted above, Le Café opened last October.

The restaurant has a main floor and at the back a loft second floor. It is bright and airy with white walls and wood wood accents:

There are various reminders of the past, such as this wood-burning porcelain stove:

and this old scale:

We were there on a Saturday night, and except for another table where two people who apparently were French spoke English to the table’s third occupant, everyone else around us spoke French. There was a spread of ages and people were casually dressed.

The restaurant emphasizes freshness, and there is a new menu each week. Fish is a specialty. The menu the week we were there:

The wine list is well-chosen and attractively priced. Because of the restaurant’s emphasis on fish, there are more white wines than red. As far as I could tell, all wines are organic and/or biodynamic.

Wines by-the-glass:

We chose a bottle of Trigone from Le Soula. It is a vin de France made by the Gauby family, located in a remote area near the Pyrénées.

The only thing I did not like about the restaurant was the dinky INAO tasting glasses used for the wine (a mark of hipster wine establishments); they do not show wine as well as larger glasses (and despite their small size, they are somewhat clunky). Nonetheless, the wine itself was excellent: refreshing, light, intense, and mineral.

Before the first course we were served an excellent house-made brioche:

The first course was a nº 3 oyster with hay-smoked butter which was nothing short of scrumptious: plump, moist, and packed with flavor:

Next came the first fresh peas of the season in a cream sauce with tarragon:

The various elements were mixed together before eating. They were a delightful reminder of the joys and promise of early spring and were extremely fresh and flavorsome.

The third course was marinated trout with fennel and horseradish:

This was another lovely dish combining a variety of textures with delicacy, freshness, and purity of flavors.

The main dish was skate wing with smoked celery root purée and rhubarb condiment:

As you can tell by now, the chef specializes in original combinations that go well together and emphasize the freshness. The skate wing was cooked crisper than usual and as a result was more delicate, and frankly it was more attractive than the traditional services of skate wing.

With some wine left in the bottle, we split a cheese portion. I don’t recall the name of the cheese but it was from the Savoie region and excellent, served with marinated quince that went very well with it:

Dessert was a citrus cream with marjoram:

As is typical with French desserts, it was light and not overly sweet, the perfect ending to a meal. It was accompanied by a lemon sorbet:

I did not get a picture of the bill, but it was 143€ for two dinners, one cheese serving, and a bottle of wine — a real bargain. As always, this amount includes the tax and the statutory service charge.

Le Café de l’Usine is one of the best new places I have been to in quite a while. I look forward to trying it again this Thursday and will report back on that meal.

Le Café de l’Usine

5, Passage Piver, 75011 Paris

Wednesday-Saturday lunch and dinner

Telephone: 07 69 08 56 69

website: cafedelusine.fr

Métro: Belleville (lines 2 and 11), Goncourt (line 11), Parmentier (line 3)